Llogara National Park

We re-remembered that cities unfortunately were not easy for us so we drove through Tirana, headed for the coast. We hit Vlora, a large beach town which had an American feel to it- like a cross between Miami and San Francisco. Wide boulevards, palm trees, and 1970s villas perched atop huge craggy cliffs. We continued along the built-up beach resort coast line, which felt quirkier and shabbier than Croatia. Also in Croatia it felt like people lived along the beach, here it felt like just holiday makers. We camped on a basic beach site in Orikum and had the worst mosquito attack yet. We moved on quite depressed. We headed for the next beach only to find a massive mountain in the way- llogora. It was a stunning drive, and when we got to top we were above the clouds. We stopped at an epic parking place and took in the view: mountains tumbling down to beaches, and bright blue sea below. The layer of cloud between us and the beach made it feel like we were upside down. It was totally surreal and vertigo inducing. The photos don’t do it justice. Our breaks failed on the way down the other side, but we were safe and two Albanian men came to the rescue and delivered us safely to Dhermi beach.Read more